The most documented genocide in history continues as Palestinians are slaughtered everyday by Israeli forces who drop bomb after bomb on schools, refugee camps, homes, hospitals, and aid facilities with the full backing of the U.S. The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal and one of the highest-impact academic journals in the world, estimates that Israel has killed more than 186,000 Palestinians since October 2023. Its July 5th study found the actual death toll is higher than 40,000 because the UN’s toll doesn’t count the thousands of bodies buried under rubble, nor the deaths caused by Israel’s destruction of health facilities in Gaza.

So-called “evacuation orders” force surviving Palestinians into tiny concentration zones where deliberate starvation and disease spread are rampant. Others face torture and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons where systemic assaults by soldiers are well-doucmented, just as they were decades earlier.  

On July 19, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is illegal, and its laws are “tantamount to the crime of apartheid.” However, that hasn’t stopped pro-Israel groups like AIPAC from pumping $100 million into U.S. elections to force out anti-genocide lawmakers and install their candidates. 

As part of the genocide, Israel has also killed record numbers of aid workers and falsely accused the UN agency, UNRWA, of employing terrorists. Israel has never provided proof of its claims, and an international investigation on April 22 found no evidence of terrorism with UNRWA workers. Still, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 284 total aid workers, including 212 from UNRWA.

Please consider giving to this vital UN aid agency – especially as the U.S. funds Israel’s genocide, no matter how many “red lines” it crosses.

Donald Trump appears to have just learned who Frederick Douglass is.

At a roundtable meeting with African American leaders to commemorate Black History Month, Trump said, “I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Rev. [Martin Luther] King, so many other things, Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job that is being recognized more and more, I noticed.”

Good news, Frederick Douglass, you’re finally famous! If a 70-year-old billionaire who appears to be the embodiment of YouTube comments in human form actually acknowledges your existence, then you’ve made it bigly, right?

Common knowledge to the rest of us recalls Douglass being a freed slave from the 19th century whose famous speeches and writings helped persuade thousands to abolish slavery across the country. Most, if not all of us, have read at least one of his books or speeches sometime in our education.

Or, at the very least, most of us are aware that a man named Frederick Douglass existed sometime in American history a long time ago, if nothing else.

Trump clearly didn’t stay awake in his high school history classes. So why is this so bad?

Because he didn’t stop there.

At this meeting dedicated to recognizing the triumphs and ongoing challenges the black community has faced since this country’s inception, the leader of the free world took time out of this humbling occasion to complain about the free press in the U.S.

Trump is referring to a tweet CNN reporter Zeke Miller posted saying the bust of MLK was removed from the Oval Office. Miller quickly corrected his mistake within a few hours of the first tweet. And that should’ve been the end of it.

But Trump just couldn’t live and let live. So instead of smiling politely and listening to the concerns of these national leaders, Trump showed his true colors.

And they’re not red, white and blue.

Shari Rose

Shari Rose

Owner of Blurred Bylines 💖💜💙

I created Blurred Bylines in an effort to bring stories from marginalized perspectives into the national conversation. As a former copy editor at the largest newspapers in Arizona and Colorado, I’ve seen first-hand the potential of accurate and accessible information to change minds and affect national policy. 

My stories focus on individuals fighting for justice and their own rights as Americans, survivors of violent crime who rebuilt their lives after tragedy, shifting political trends that seek to strip the LGBTQ+ community and other minority groups of their freedoms, and forgotten figures in U.S. history whose fights for equality persist today.

Through writing these articles, I stumbled upon the power of search engine optimization (SEO) to attract interested audiences to my writing. In addition to the ad-free and paywall-free stories I write at Blurred Bylines, I also perform SEO services for businesses, nonprofits, and fellow freelancers around the country so they can grow their organizations through search engines. 

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